Newcastle United match preview

• West Ham United travel to Newcastle United this weekend for their first Barclays Premier League away match of the campaign.

• Sam Allardyce's men made the perfect start last week, defeating Cardiff City 2-0 thanks to goals from midfield men Joe Cole and former Magpie Kevin Nolan.

• Newcastle United endured a less-productive first match, losing defender Steven Taylor to a red card and Argentine international Jonas Gutierrez to a hamstring injury along the way to a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City.

• This will be the 124th meeting between West Ham and the Magpies in all competitions. The Hammers have won 38 to Newcastle's 49, while there have been 36 draws played out between the teams.

• Magpies boss and one time Hammers manager Alan Pardew will be celebrating his 100th match in charge of Newcastle.

• Pardew's side will hope to better last season's disappointing form, when they followed up qualifying for the UEFA Europa League by going through a relegation battle along the way to a 16th place finish.

• The Hammers will have good memories of last season's trip to the north east, as Kevin Nolan scored on his return to St James' Park, turning home a Joey O'Brien shot, togive Big Sam's team a 1-0 victory - a three-point haul that lifted them to sixth in the Premier League table.

Team news

West Ham United

• The Hammers will be without ex-Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, who continues his comeback from a heel injury at Chadwell Heath. He is set to step up his training imminently, but remains unavailable for selection. George McCartney, meanwhile, is closing in on a return from his knee problem and could make his comeback for Tuesday's Capital One Cup clash with Cheltenham Town.

Newcastle United

• Defender Steven Taylor is suspended for Saturday's visit of the Hammers after being sent off for a clash with Sergio Aguero in the Magpies' 4-0 defeat to Manchester City on Monday night. Jonas Gutierrez limped off with a hamstring injury in the same game, while striker Loic Remy, a summer arrival from QPR, is out with a nagging calf problem.

• Remy is Newcastle's only summer arrival to date, while Yohan Cabaye sat out the defeat to Manchester City after Newcastle received an approach from Arsenal for his services.

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Old boys

• West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan scored 30 goals in 91 appearances for Newcastle United between January 2009 and May 2011, captaining the Magpies to the Championship title in 2009/10.

• Hammers striker Andy Carroll was born in Gateshead and came through the Academy ranks at Newcastle United. The 23-year-old netted 33 goals in 91 games for the Magpies before joining Liverpool in a record £35m deal in January 2011.

• Sam Allardyce took charge of Newcastle United 24 times between May 2007 and January 2008, winning eight matches, losing ten and drawing six.

• Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew spent a little more than three years in charge at West Ham between October 2003 and December 2006. Pardew led the Hammers to promotion via the play-offs in 2004/05 and the 2006 FA Cup final. In total, he took charge of 163 matches, winning 67, losing 58 and drawing 38.

• Dowd is in his 13h season as a Select Group official, having initially been promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001.

• Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, officiating in the Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. He was appointed to the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992, before joining the League's full list of referees in 1997, aged 34.

• The 49-year-old is commonly considered to be one of England's best match officials, an opinion backed by his appointments as the referee for the 2012 FA Cup and 2010 Football League Cup finals.

• Previously, Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

• Dowd has refereed 23 West Ham fixtures in total, the most-recent being the last day of the season 4-2 victory over Reading in May.

• He will be assisted by Simon Bennett and Dave Bryan, while the fourth official is Kevin Friend.

General Information

• There are only a handful of tickets remaining for this fixture. Click here for full information.

• The weather forecast for Saturday is for light rain at 3pm, with temperatures at 17C (63F).